Mail-box protector.



B. B. EGGLESTON.

MAIL BOX PROTECTOR. APPLIUATION vFILED JUNE 11, 1910.

969,686. Patented sept. 6, 1910.

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|| le LL E. B. EGGLESTON.

MAIL BOX PROTECTOR.f APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1I, 1910.

Patented sept.6,1910.

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EUG-ENE B. EGGLESTON, 0F SHERIDAN, ILLINOIS.

MAIL-BOX PROTECTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 6, 1910.

Application led .Tune 11, 1910. Serial No. 566,340,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE B. EGGLES- TON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Sheridan, in the county of Lasalle and State of Illinois, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Box Protectors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in means for protecting mail boxes, especially those mail boxes designed to be used upon rural free delivery routes, and it consists in the combinations,constructions and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide means vwhereby the mail box may be moved automatically from the position in which mail is introduced into it, by the mail carrier, to a position of safety, so that it is beyond the reach of stock or careless children.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device by which the mail box may be moved from the outside of the fence to the inside, thereby obviating the necessity of the patron from going around through :the gate and subjecting him to the annoyance of mud, etc., in wet Weather.

A further object of my invention is toY provide a cheap and durable mechanism for accomplishing the above named object.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanyng drawings forming part of this application in which similar reference characters indicate like parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a side view, showing one embodiment of my invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view, Fig. 3 is a front view in detail showing the mail box closed, Fig. 4 is a side view of a modified form, Fig. 5 is a front view of the form shown in Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 is a rear view of the mail box showing the attaching members.

In carrying out my invention, I rst provide two uprights l and 2. The post 1 is located on the outside of a fence 3, along the road-way, and immediately adjacent thereto, while the post 2 is located about two feet from the fence on the opposite side thereof. These posts are approximately four feet in height, thereby bringing them above the wheels of a vehicle. Across the tops of the posts 1 and 2, which are on a level, I arrange a plank 4, which forms the base for the track (in lieu of a plank, I may make the base of metal). This track is coinposed of the two rods 5 and 6 (see Fig. 2). One end of the rod 6 is supported by means of an upright 6a, which is carried by a cross member 7 secured upon the upper side of the base 4. The opposite end of the rod 6 is bent at 6b and is secured to the end of a cross member 8, which is borne by the base. The opposite track member 5 is supported upon a similar upright 5a upon the cross member 7, and its end is also bent and secured to the member 8 as shown in Fig. 2. At one end of the base member 4 is journaled a pulley 9, which is incased in a housing 1() to protect it from the weather. The opposite end of the base member 4 is provided with an eye 11.

The mail box 12 may be of any type, which has a hinged cover, such as that shown at 13. It is mounted upon a pair of U-shaped supports 14 and 15, respectively. One arm of the U-shaped support 14 is bent inwardly as shown in Fig. 1, and is provided with an elongated opening 14a for a purpose hereinafter explained. The supporting member 15 is similarly provided with a slot 15a. The opposite arms are perforated to admit the tracks 5 and 6 respectively. On the bottom of the box is a strip 16, which is bent downwardly at 16a to form an attaching member, and then upwardly to form a handle 16h. Secured to the cover 13 is a flexible cord 17 whose end is attached to an eye 18 in the base 4. Another exible cord 19 is attached to the downwardly extending portion 16a at one end and passes over the pulley 9, and is attached to a weight 29. The flexible cord 2l is secured to the downwardly depending portion 16a, passes forwardly through the eye 11, and has at its end a handle 22.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood.

The normal position of the device is that shown in Fig. 1 in which the mail box is on the side of the fence toward the dwelling, being held in this position by means of the weight 20. In order to guide or protect the latter a casing 23, shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, may be used. Now, when the mail carrier comes along, he grasps the handle 22 and pulls outwardly, thus moving the mail box into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. l. The cord 17 is so arranged that it will raise the cover 13. The U-shaped supports of the mail box pass around the bent portions of the tracks 5 and 6. This tends to tip the box forward in the position shown in the drawing, and it also keeps the box from. being drawn backwardly by the weight. The carrier now deposits his mail, and then, by lifting up on the handle 16", he frees the box, so that the weight 20 is now free to descend. This draws the box back into its original position and the cover falls over it, while the handle 22 is drawn up out of the way. It will thus be seen that the box will be away from the road side and, therefore, out of the way of stock.,

In Figs. 4, 5 and 6, I have shown a modi-` ied form of the device, which is similar in operation to the form already described, but differs from it, in that the box slides vertically instead of horizontally. In this form, I erect a single supporting post 30 to which is secured a plank 31. The latter corresponds to the base member 4, and is provided with a cross member 37 bearing lateral extending supports 32 and 33, respectively. To the supports 32 and 33 are secured the guide members 34 and 35, which correspond to the tracks 5 and 6. The ends of the tracks 34 and 35 are secured to the cross member 36, borne by the plank 31. At the top of the post 30 is a cross beam 39 bearing the pulleys 40 and 41. The U- shaped members 42 and 43 (see Figs. 4 and C) are similar to the supports 14 and 15 already described. The upper arms of these members bear a pair of cross members 44 and 45, which are perforated to admit the guide rods 34 and 35. On the bottom of the box is attached a resilient strip 46, whose ends are bent downwardly at 40a. The cover 47 of the box 4S is attached, by means of the flexible cord 49, to an eye 50, in the cross member 39. The weight 51 is secured at the end of the cord 52, which passes around the pulleys 40, 41 and is attached to the top cross member 44. To the bottom cross member 45 (see Fig. 6) is attached a flexible cord 53 bearing a handle 54 at its lower extremity. In order to protect the pulleys 40 and 41, I may make use of a casing 55, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. This form of the device may also have a guide casing like that shown at 9.3 in Fig. 1. The operation of this form of the device is as follows: The post 30 is set along the road-way at any convenient place. Normally the weight 51 will keep the box in the position shown in Fig. 4, where it will be out of the way of stock or careless children, being located high enough to be above their reach. The most convenient place for the handle 54 is at the front of the box, where its cord 53 is hooked under one of the spring arms 46a. The carrier grasps this handle unhooks it from the arm and pulls downwardly. As soon as the box 48 reaches the end of the track it drops downwardly into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, while the cover 47 is raised, thus exposing the interior of the box. In this position, it will remain against the action of the weight 51, because, as will be seen, the weight now tends to slide the box toward the post and on up the tracks. After the mail has been deposited, the box may be moved into alinement with the tracks when the weight will cause it to move upwardly and to take its normal position.

The device described is of simple construction, but is strong and durable. It requires no more time to operate than the ordinary mail box,because, as will be seen, the cover is lifted automatically, the box is held in position when it is drawn down, thereby leaving the hands of the postman free to assort his mail before placing it within the box. A single movement will then suffice to bring the box in position either with the vertical or the horizontal forms when the weight will carry it back beyond the reach of stock or meddling children.

I claim 1. In a mail box protect-ing device, a track curved at one end, a mail box, means for slidably securing said box to said track, a tension device for holdingsaid mail box at one end of said track, and a flexible cord for pulling said mail box to the curved end of the track against the force of said tension device, the curved end of said track being arranged to tip the mail box downwardly to prevent a retrograde movement thereof.

2. In a mail box protecting device, a track comprising a pair of rods, said rods being curved at one end, a mail box, and a pair of U-shaped supports secured to said mail box and provided with perforations through which the track rods extend, certain of said perforations being elongated to permit a partial movement of the mail box around the curved portion of the track.

3. In a mail box protecting device, a pair of uprights, a base member supported thereby, a pair of rods carried by said base member, said rods being bent at one end into a cilrved form, a mail box, a pair of U-shaped supporting members for said mail box, the arms of said supporting members being perforated and adapted to fit. over said rods, Certain of said perforations being elongated, a Weight secured to said mail box for holding the latter at one end of said rods, and.

a flexible cord for moving the mail box to the other end of the rods.

EUGENE B. EGGLESTON.

Witnesses QUINGY WEMPLE, ELIZA ROBINSON. 

